Monday, January 6, 2014

December Makes

Happy New Year!

I haven't been busy blogging but have been fairly busy making assorted things, mostly Christmas presents.

Before two years ago, I wasn't that fond of trims on clothing items, especially not pom poms and especially not sequins! Then I saw this tutorial on The Purl Bee for a very lovely cowl which I found looked very pleasing to me. The pom pom ban was lifted at once and I thought a cowl would make very nice Christmas presents. I purchased some double gauze, linen and Pom Pom trim in three colours from Tessuti and thats as far as I got in 2011...

Two years later, I finally got around to making one! I remember finding the pom pom trim very fiddly and gave up on it back then. Now I am sewing more regularly, I managed to take control of the slippery suckers. I did read somewhere about someone using their seam ripper to hold fabric together while they were feeding it through their machine. I used mine to push the trim between the two layers and it really helped me keep control..hot tip! Another thing worth noting is that there are varying qualities of pom pom trim out there, Tessuti nice, Spotlight not so.

This soft and light double gauze cowl was made for my Mum for her birthday. Please excuse the iphone pictures.


I liked that one so much I made another pom pom cowl for my sister in law. This one is in a lovely lightweight linen which, I think, came from Tessuti as well.





Next, I made two each of these 14" cushions for my Mum for Christmas. I still owe her two more cushions though as six is her magic number of cushions required. Tree print cotton duck and stretch denim both from Spotlight. Backed in calico, with an envelope closure. I like to use a double layer of calico for each piece for my cushions so they hold their shape better. I just overlock the two layers together and use them as one pattern piece.


Having a boy, I took great pleasure making the following present. This is the Geranium Dress, size 6-12 months and top length. Made up in Heather Ross "Far Far Away" double gauze for the bodice and pockets which I got from Calico & Ivy here in Perth. The skirt and sleeves are made from Kiyohara cotton linen blend in Solid Violet, which I bought at Lucky Lantern.


Such lovely fabric!


I made this cute little lady for a cute little five year old. I revisited this pattern as she turns out lovely and is a lot of fun to make. She is Violet from the Hop, Skip, Jump pattern book.


A lady needs options so I made a second skirt for Violet.



Did you notice the matching buttons on the skirts? These were made with a nifty button covering kit. Very easy and turned out very cute.


I again cut into my Spoonflower Lego Print knit for a present for a special 4 year old and again using the Recess Raglan pattern by See Kate Sew. I did cheat save time and used an existing t-shirt for the sleeves for this one, eliminating the need for hemming...great idea if are short on time.



And for me, another By Hand London Anna Dress. This version, my third, is my favourite so far. I added inseam pockets to this Anna making her cute and useful too. Made up from cotton poplin from Spotlight. 




Zips are going in a little easier on the third try...


I'm still not done with this pattern.


1 comment:

  1. Interesting tip about feeding the pom pom trim through. I still have this one my to-do list... perhaps when the weather starts to cool off!

    Looking forward to seeing the next Anna!

    ReplyDelete